The present invention relates to absorbent devices for use in containing and disposing of spilled or leaked hydrocarbons. The device further provides a variety of environmentally sound disposal options for spilled and leaked liquid hydrocarbons.
In a broad range of applications, there is a need to contain and remove liquid hydrocarbons that are spilled or leaked into the environment as part of the routine maintenance and operation of a wide variety of equipment and machinery utilizing liquid hydrocarbon products for fuel and lubrication. This critically important task is necessary to prevent pollution of the environment, by for example, entry of pollutants into an adjacent water column as the spilled or leaked liquid hydrocarbons seep through the ground, or allowing the hydrocarbons to flow downstream as waste water runoff.
One common approach to the task of removing spilled or leaked liquid hydrocarbons is to utilize absorbent devices to contain such spills. A wide variety of components, including cotton, peat moss, rice hulls and ground-up corn cobs are used in the fabrication of these devices. One such device relies on ground-up chicken feathers encased in a cotton pillow case. The largest class of sorbent devices are typically composed of a group of non-woven, petro-chemical based fabric materials having the physical properties of sorbing liquid hydrocarbons while repelling water. These devices are packaged as flat pads or sheets, or are rolled into cylindrical booms for placement to absorb and retain leaks and spills caused by the equipment. They are also packaged as strips of the non-woven fabric encased in an open weave plastic net, resulting in a sausage-like boom.
In each instance, these devices are placed in sump or containment areas where spilled or leaked hydrocarbons accumulate to absorb and collect them for extraction from the area.
Prior art absorbent devices of this type are subject to allowing liquid hydrocarbons to pass through the device and on to the surface where they are placed. The contaminants are then free to soak into the ground and pollute the adjacent area or stain the surface, such as a concrete pad, with a film of liquid hydrocarbons. Further, the absorbed liquid hydrocarbons are subject to release by gravity, column weight or outside forces exerting pressure on the devices as they are removed from the containment area. Disposal of these devices results in the displacement of a substantial volume of the absorbed liquid hydrocarbon pollutants from one environment to another.